LERU sees basic research funding under threat in new Horizon Europe

In a statement published on 29 September 2025, the League of European Research Universities (LERU) expresses concern over EU basic research funding in the next Research Framework Programme, as key legal and strategic developments are threatening to jeopardise fundamental research.

According to LERU's statement, it has become clear that under Article 182 TFEU the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) cannot legally finance research and innovation activities — including basic research. As a result, only the European Research Council (ERC) would explicitly fund fundamental research at EU level, which would mean a guaranteed basic research budget of just €31.5 billion through the ERC, plus minor contributions from Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and Pillar 2. This would equal roughly €4.5 billion per year, LERU Secretary-General Kurt Detekelaere argues in this statement, and would not enable Europe to explore the unknown, prepare for long-term challenges, or anticipate future disruptions. LERU therefore regards this funding scenario as unsustainable.

According to LERU's statement, the €220 billion in ECF funding for the 4 policy windows will not be available for R&I, but all R&I funding required for these windows will instead have to come from the “Competitiveness” cluster of FP10 Pillar 2, with a total budget of €68.270 billion, also raising the fundamental question what the large ECF budgets for the policy windows will actually fund.

LERU concludes that if total R&I funding for 2028–2034 is indeed limited to the ERC budget, "all alarm bells should be ringing", and the EU will need to reconsider the FP10 budget, the distribution within FP10 and the ECF budget itself. If the ECF cannot legally fund R&I, especially basic research, part of its budget should be transferred to FP10. In this context, LERU is eagerly awaiting the forthcoming Commission Communication on the connection between FP10 and the ECF to provide more clarity on this issue.

For more information:

LERU news and statement